CONFIDENTIAL FILE

Fallacy Exploded on Older Workers

Between 40% and 45% of those individuals seeking employment are in the "older worker" bracket.

It’s an unrealistic, unreasonably high figure. But it’s a figure we cannot ignore.

For
some vital answers on the causes and effects of age discrimination in
the Los Angeles area, I talked yesterday with Mrs. Edythe Kennedy, a
specialist in older workers’ problems for the California Department of
Employment.

Question — How extensive is age discrimination in the L.A. area?

Answer — It’s prevalent in most businesses and industries, and it even extends somewhat into the field of Civil Service.

Q — What seems to be the main objection employers have to hiring so-called middle-aged persons?

A —
They say it will raise insurance rates and their contributions to
retirement and pension funds unless they place a quota on people past
40.

Q — To what extent do you think this fear is legitimate?

A — A
study by the U.S. Department of Labor shows that age isn’t as
significant a factor in retirement and pension funds as employers make
it out to be. Insurance leaders have told me that plans could be
written to extend present coverage without a prohibitive raise in
rates. But even if insurance costs are a little higher, it’s false
economy for business to discriminate against the middle-aged worker.

Q — In what way is it false economy?

A —
First of all, it’s much cheaper to make the older worker productive
than to put him on relief. That will mean higher taxes for business and
the rest of us. Also, if a worker is unemployed he’s not going to be
able to buy goods that industry produces.

Q — What are some of the other prejudices employers have against the older worker?

A — They
say that the older worker is too slow, that he’s incapable of learning
new techniques. Or they say he has a higher rate of absenteeism, or
that he doesn’t like working under a younger supervisor.

Q — Are these fair criticisms?

A —
Department of Labor studies show that in certain industries a worker’s
output remains stable through the age of 54, and there’s only a slight
decline in the efficiency after that. As for absenteeism, the studies
show that it actually decreases as age increases.

Q — Do older men and women have trouble under young supervisors?

A — There’s some truth to this criticism. But industry can also train young foremen to get along with older workers.

Q — What’s the Department of Employment doing about the problem?

A —
Quite a bit, we feel. In educating industry, in dispelling the myth. We
give special training to our own employees in placing the older worker.
We have at least one specialist on the problem in every area office.
We’re doing a lot better job than we were a year ago.

Q — What do you think will happen if the problem isn’t solved soon?

A — We’ll have a huge group of unemployed, bitterly unhappy people in the community. And the rest of us will have to support them.